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v1
Now he ^[That is, Jacob] heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying, “Jacob has taken all that our father has,” and “From that which was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.”
v2
Then Jacob saw the face of Laban and, behold, it was not like it had been in the past. ^[Literally “there was not with him like yesterday or the day before”]
v3
And Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors ^[Or “fathers”] and to your family, and I will be with you.”
v4
So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks,
v5
and he said to them, “Look, I see the face of your father, that it is not like it has been toward me in the past. ^[Literally “it is not to me like yesterday or the day before”] But the God of my father is with me.
v6
Now you yourselves know that I have served your father with all my strength,
v7
and your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God has not allowed him to harm me.
v8
If thus he said, ‘Speckled shall be your wage,’ then all the flock bore speckled. And if he said, ‘Streaked shall be your wage,’ then all the flock bore streaked.
v9
God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
v10
Now it happened that at the time of the mating of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams mounting the flock were streaked, speckled, and dappled.
v11
Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.‘
v12
And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see—all the rams mounting the flock are streaked, speckled, and dappled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
v13
I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a stone pillar, where you made a vow to me. Now get up, go out from this land and return to the land of your birth.‘“
v14
Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there yet a portion for us, and an inheritance in the house of our father?
v15
Are we not regarded as foreigners by him, because he has sold us and completely consumed our money?
v16
For all the wealth that God has taken away from our father, it belongs to us and to our sons. So now, all that God has said to you, do.”
v17
Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on the camels.
v18
And he drove all his livestock and his possessions that he had acquired, the livestock of his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-Aram, in order to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.
v19
Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the idols ^[Hebrew teraphim] that belonged to her father.
v20
And Jacob tricked ^[Literally “stole the heart of”] Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he intended to flee.
v21
Then he fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphrates ^[Or “the river”] and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
v22
And on the third day it was told to Laban that Jacob had fled.
v23
Then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued after him, a seven-day journey, and he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.
v24
And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Take care ^[Literally “watch to yourself”] that you not speak with Jacob, whether good or evil.”
v25
And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his kinsmen pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead.
v26
Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done that you tricked me ^[Literally “stole my heart”] and have carried off my daughters like captives of the sword?
v27
Why did you hide your intention to flee and trick me, ^[Literally “steal my heart”] and did not tell me so that I would have sent you away with joy and song and tambourine and lyre?
v28
And why did you not give me opportunity to kiss my grandsons ^[Or “sons”] and my daughters goodbye? Now you have behaved foolishly by doing this.
v29
It is in my power ^[Literally “there is power in my hand”] to do harm to you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, ‘Take care ^[Literally “watch to yourself”] from speaking with Jacob, whether good or evil.‘
v30
Now, you have surely gone because you desperately longed for the house of your father, but why did you steal my gods?“
v31
Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought, ‘Lest you take your daughters from me by force.‘
v32
But with whomever you find your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of your kinsmen now identify what is with me that is yours and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
v33
Then Laban went into Jacob’s tent and Leah’s tent and the tent of the two female servants and did not find his gods. And he came out of Leah’s tent and went into Rachel’s tent.
v34
Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them in the saddle bag of the camel and sat on them. And Jacob searched the whole tent thoroughly but did not find them.
v35
And she said to her father, “Let there not be anger in the eyes of my lord, for I am not able to rise before you, for the way of women is with me. And he searched carefully and did not find the idols.
v36
Then Jacob became angry and quarreled with Laban. Jacob answered and said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin that you pursued after me?
v37
For you have searched all my possessions and what did you find among all the possessions of my household? Set it before my kinsmen and your kinsmen that they may decide between the two of us!
v38
These twenty years I was with you; your ewes and your female goats did not miscarry, and the rams of your flocks I did not eat.
v39
I brought no mangled carcass to you—I bore its loss. From my hand you sought it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
v40
There I was, during the day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.
v41
These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.
v42
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had not been with me, indeed now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my misery and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”
v43
Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters and the grandsons ^[Or “sons”] are my grandsons, ^[Or “sons”] and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see, it is mine. Now, what can I do for these my daughters today, or for their children whom they have borne?
v44
So now, come, let us make ^[Literally “cut”] a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between me and you.”
v45
And Jacob took a stone and set it up as a stone pillar.
v46
And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a pile of stones, and they ate there by the pile of stones.
v47
And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ^[Aramaic for “the heap of witness”] but Jacob called it Galeed. ^[Hebrew for “the heap of witness”]
v48
Then Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness between me and you today.” Therefore its name is called Galeed, ^[Hebrew for “the heap of witness”]
v49
and Mizpah, ^[Hebrew for “watchpost”] because he said, “Yahweh watch between me and you when we are out of sight of each other. ^[Literally “each from his neighbor is concealed”]
v50
If you mistreat my daughters, and if you take wives besides my daughters, when there is no man with us, see—God is a witness between me and you.”
v51
And Laban said to Jacob, “See, this pile of stones, and see the pillar that I have set up between me and you.
v52
This pile of stones is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to you, and that you will not pass beyond this pile of stones and this pillar to me intending harm.
v53
May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father ^[That is, Terah] judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
v54
And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice on the hill, and he called his kinsmen to eat the meal. ^[Or “food, bread”] And they ate the meal ^[Or “food, bread”] and spent the night on the hill.
v55
^[Genesis 31:55–32:32 in the English Bible is 32:1–33 in the Hebrew Bible] And Laban arose early in the morning and kissed his grandsons ^[Or “sons”] and his daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his homeland.